State Rep. David Arconti: Why you need to know about GMO

state Rep. David Arconti

Published 6:10 pm, Friday, April 26, 2013

More Information

What do you think?Respond to this opinion piece in a Letter to the Editor, 300 words maximum, to letters@newstimes.com; or Where I Stand, 700 words maximum, to jsmith@newstimes.com; or shoot a quick You Said It, maximum 50 words, to YouSaidIt@newstimes.com. Be sure to provide your full name, town and a telephone number to contact you. The number will not be published.

Page 1 of 1

Right to know. Those are the three simple words behind a movement that is gaining more momentum every day across Connecticut and the country -- labeling foods, which contain Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Genetic engineering is a process through which food intended for human consumption is produced from an organism or organisms in which the genetics are materially changed by altering the DNA through different techniques and fusing cells from different plant families.

Your next question may well be what purpose does this serve?

In the commercial big agribusiness world GMOs are created to resist the application of an herbicide. Weeds compete with crops for sunlight and nutrients, however an herbicide like Roundup cannot tell the difference between a weed and a corn stalk.

The solution has been to genetically modify the corn seed to resist the herbicide but at what cost too human health?

A French study in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology paints a frightening picture. An experiment was conducted in which rats were fed a corn seed that had been modified to resist the application of Roundup. A control group was fed a standard diet without genetically modified food.

Seventy percent of the female and half of the male rats in the Roundup group died prematurely. Compare that to only 20 percent of the female and 30 percent of male rats dying prematurely on a normal diet.

This study is one of many which is shedding light on the potential harmful effects of GMOS.

This same process is used with insecticides. A genetically modified plant will be able to produce its own "natural" insecticide.

Now how would you like to know that there is no way you can decipher whether a food product you buy at your local grocery store contains GMOS? That is because in the United States there is no requirement to label a food that has been genetically modified.

Sixty-two countries around the world require GMO labeling. Some of those countries include: China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, The European Union and Australia.

However, our own Food and Drug Administration never applied its own science to it and casually gave it a GRAS (generally recognized as safe) designation.

Some suggest that this is because there is a revolving door dating back decades between executives who work for big agribusiness and national administrations, but I will leave that up to you to decide.

GMO labeling is also opposed by our own Farm Bureau, which seems slightly odd because the opposite of GMOs is homegrown Connecticut produce, which is as good as it gets anywhere.

Just go down to the Farmer's Market at Kennedy Park during the summer months and find out for yourself.

HB 6519, An Act Concerning the Labeling of Genetically Modified Food, and HB 6527, An Act Concerning Genetically Modified Baby Food. These bills do not prohibit the use of GMOs; they simply require foods, which contain them to be labeled.

I believe we have a fundamental right to decide what to eat and should know what is going in our bodies and our children's bodies.

There is a great grassroots effort happening in Connecticut being lead by mothers who feel they have the right to know.

If you feel you have the right to know what is in your food -- and the corporations do not have the right to hide their ingredients -- then I urge you to join this effort.

State Rep. David Arconti Jr., a Democrat, represents the 109th District, which is northern and eastern Danbury.